Longing to Listen

A former member of our congregation stopped by our church office recently.  “What’s going on?” I asked her.  “Well,” she said, “I finally retired.  But now I’m not sure what to do.  I guess I’m in a season of discernment.  I’m trying to listen to God and discover what he wants me to do next.”

In some ways, her description of her life-stage fits many of us.  For those who are truly seeking a more significant spiritual life, listening seems to be the one commonality.  We’re listening for God’s guidance in our work.  We’re listening for God’s leadership in our relationships.  We’re listening for God’s direction in major decisions.  We’re listening for God’s answers to circumstances that puzzle us.  For more and more of us, life with Jesus is a life of listening.

In his book The Power of a Whisper Bill Hybels focuses on about twenty individuals in the Bible who heard God in a distinct way.[i] These include Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Balaam, Joshua, Samuel, Job, Zechariah, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, Philip, Peter, and Paul.  Each was blessed with direct interaction with and instruction from God.  Each heard from the Lord.  Many of us long for this very thing.  We hunger for a fresh and living word from the One who made us and loves us.

Hearing by Reading

Thankfully, this craving can be satisfied through the meditative reading of Scripture.  Marjorie Thompson calls this “spiritual reading”:

“Spiritual reading is reflective and prayerful.  It is concerned not with speed or volume but with depth and receptivity.  That is because the purpose of spiritual reading is to open ourselves to how God may be speaking to us in and through any particular text.  The manner of spiritual reading is like drinking in the words of a love letter or pondering the meaning of a poem.  It is not like skittering over the surface of a popular magazine or plowing through a computer manual.  We are seeking not merely information but formation.”[ii]

The meditative reading of Scripture is one of the most promising ways to perceive the hushed voice of God.  It is based on a singular conviction: God still speaks.  He is not mute.  He not silent.  God has not lost his voice.  We have lost our ears.  Just as he did to Adam, Moses, and Mary, so God still addresses any person who humbly seeks an audience with him in the pages of his word.  He may express himself in many other ways.  But most certainly does so through the words of the Bible.

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[ii]Marjorie Thompson, Soul Feast (Westminster John Knox, 1985), 18 (emphasis added).

Making Our Last Resort the First Resort

I was recently talking to a friend who is a preaching minister.  For several months he had faced an immovable impediment in his ministry.  One person was frustrating every move he made to pursue the path he believed God wanted his congregation to take.  He and other leaders had discerned bold visions for the church’s future, but all plans were on pause because of this single stubborn person.  My friend tried everything to pass the impasse.  He sought to reason with the man.  Then, he asked his mentors what to say and do.  And, he sent other church leaders to speak to the individual.  But all this work produced no progress.

Finally, one day, a colleague from another congregation asked my friend, “Have you fasted and prayed about this?  If I were you, that’s what I would do.  Fast and pray.”  My friend had not.  That week he began.  He decided to spend each Thursday fasting and praying.

Four weeks later, that intractable individual holding everything up and holding everyone hostage took a job offer in another state.

Prayer had been my friend’s last resort.  It should have been his first resort.  Because, in the end, it was his only resort.

Jesus makes a similar case in his Sermon on the Mount.  In Matt. 6:1-18 Jesus speaks specifically about piety, about growing more intimate with the Father.  Jesus draws attention to three practices of piety: giving, praying, and fasting.  Of the three, Jesus shows prayer to be the most indispensable.

First, Jesus spends greater time speaking on prayer than on the other two practices which are mentioned in his section on piety.  Giving receives three verses of Jesus’ speech.  Fasting similarly receives three verses.  But prayer receives eleven verses.  Jesus devotes nearly four times the space to speaking on prayer as he does highlighting these other practices.

Second, when we consider that fasting (Matt. 6:16-18) by its very nature centers on prayer, two-thirds of Jesus’ piety presentation contain instruction and inspiration regarding prayer.  Of the eighteen verses in this message on spirituality, fourteen focus on prayer.

Third, when Jesus speaks of fasting and of giving, he identifies mistakes which other Jewish spiritual leaders are making.  But in his section on supplication, Jesus additionally identifies mistakes which Gentile spiritual leaders are making.  Jesus is so intent on ensuring that we experience prayer as originally intended that he doubles his efforts to reveal flawed approaches to it.  That is, Jesus spends twice as long clarifying wrong approaches to prayer as he does clarifying wrong approaches to giving or to fasting.

Finally, only in the portion on prayer does Jesus give us a “formula.”  Only here does Jesus spell out in detail exactly how to do prayer.  It’s here we find the “Lord’s Prayer.”  Though never intended as something which must be said word-for-word, its words nonetheless have become the pathway to richer prayer for centuries.  Countless Christians have grown more in tune with the Father and more in line with his will through the words of this prayer than any other prayer.  No other section in Jesus’ piety presentation contains this level of detailed instruction.

If we wish to dive deeper into the spiritual life, prayer must never be our last resort.  It must always be our first resort.

Ready Made Prayers

And Jesus’ model-prayer introduces something which Mark Thibodeaux calls “ready-made prayers.”^[i] Ready-made prayers are those which someone else has authored for us.  We pray using someone else’s words rather than our own.  And by praying them, we are led into experiences we may have never reached by relying solely on our own prayer-words.

Scripture is full of these ready-made prayers.  In fact, Adele Calhoun writes that “In the early centuries of the church, believers were taught to pray the Scriptures.  Since the Bible is divinely inspired, they believed that praying Scripture deeply connected them to the mind and heart of God.  Furthermore, as Scripture was repeatedly prayed, it became memorized.  This was a wonderful benefit for those who were illiterate.  It also meant that memorized Scripture could lead them to pray at any hour of the day or night.”[ii] For centuries Christians have relied heavily on the ready-made prayers found in Scripture.

In upcoming posts, we’ll explore three sources of these “pre-packaged” prayers in the Bible: the Psalms, Jesus’ prayers, and the prayers and writings of Paul.

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[ii] Adele Calhoun Spiritual Disciplines Handbook (IVP Books, 2005), 246.

Bartholomew JoJo “Bart” Simpson is a fictional character from the animated TV series “The Simpsons.”   Time magazine actually named Bart one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century.  At ten years old, Bart is the eldest child of Homer and Marge Simpson.  Bart’s most prominent character traits are his mischievousness, rebelliousness and disrespect for authority.  In fact Bart’s name is an anagram of the word brat.  Bart Simpson is the ultimate ten year old brat.  He was created by cartoonist Matt Groening.  Groening received complaints from parents whose children watched The Simpsons and then acted like Bart. The parents said that Bart was a terrible role model.  Groening once responded in this way: “I now have a 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy, so all I can say is, I apologize. Now I know what you guys were talking about.”

There are some people we just do not want to be like.  Bart Simpson is one of them.  Parents complained because they didn’t want their kids to become like Bart.  He’s just one of those rebellious and disrespectful people you don’t want to be like.

But Bart is not alone.  There are even religious people we do not want to be like.  Todd Hertz reviews films for Christianity Today, a popular evangelical magazine.  Hertz recently looked at how preachers are portrayed in films.  He found five portraits of clergy in the movies.[1] Only one was positive.  The other four were negative.  Here they are:

1. “Lapsed” Preachers.  These are former ministers whose faith has lapsed.  They include the ministers in “The Apostle,” “Signs” and “Contact.”
2. “Corrupt” Preachers.  These include predatory priests like Father Flynn in “Doubt”; huckster profiteers like those in “Leap of Faith”; and those too self-interested to do the right thing such as the minister in “The Da Vinci Code.”
3. “Likable, but…” Preachers.  These are ministers who are nice but seem to stand for nothing. They include Robin Williams in “License to Wed,” Rev. Lovejoy in “The Simpsons,” and Father Mulkahy from “M*A*S*H.”
4. “Stuck-in-the-Mud” Preachers.  These are right-wing preachers opposed to change.  They include John Lithgow in “Footloose” and Hugh Grant in “Sirens.”

The movies are filled with religious people we don’t want to be like.

We find a similar group of people in 2 Timothy 3.  Paul describes people who are lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. (2 Tim. 3:2-5 ESV).  Paul is writing to a young apprentice named Timothy.  And here he warns Timothy that there are certain people, even within Christianity, whom you do not want to be like.  They may have the appearance of godliness, but they are lovers of self, arrogant, and ungrateful.  Paul warns Timothy about these people.  He does not want Timothy to become like them.

But a few verses later Paul points Timothy towards a different kind of person, the kind he should become like: ¹⁰ You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹²Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted… (2 Tim. 3:10-12 ESV).  What a contrast!  Paul describes people who are lovers of self, arrogant, and ungrateful.  Then he describes someone who is faithful, patient, loving, and steadfast.  Paul holds himself up as someone Timothy can emulate.^[2] Paul points to several elements in his life worthy of imitating: his conduct, his aim in life, and the way he stood for what was right in spite of persecution.  There are some people we do want to be like. And Paul was one of them.  In chapter 3 of 2 Timothy Paul is contrasting two kinds of people: those we want to be like and those we do not want to be like.

We find a comparable contrast in a recent study.  The National Study of Youth and Religion (conducted from 2002 to 2005) was the most ambitious study of American teenagers and religion ever conducted.  It involved extensive interviews of more than 3,300 teenagers.[3] Here are three important findings from the study:

1. Most American teenagers have a positive view of religion but otherwise don’t give it much thought.[4]
2. A minority of American teenagers say religious faith is important, and that it makes a difference in their lives.[5] One in twelve (8%) can be described as “highly devoted.”[6] These highly devoted teenagers are much more compassionate, significantly more likely to say they care about things like racial equality and justice, far less likely to be moral relativists, to lie, cheat, or do things “they hoped their parents would never find out about.”[7]
3. Many teenagers espouse a religious outlook that is distinct from the traditional teachings of most world religions—an outlook called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.[8]

I want to focus on this second finding.  This study found that there are many young people we don’t want to be like.  Faith isn’t very important to them and it doesn’t play a significant role in their lives.  But there are a handful of young people we would like to imitate.  They are the 8% called “highly devoted.”  These teens are compassionate.  They care about racial equality and justice.  And they are far less likely to lie, cheat, or do things they wouldn’t want their parents to know about.  They have a faith that makes a difference in their daily lives.  This national study found that 8% of teenagers have a faith and a life that most of us would probably like to have.

But the question is, How do we get what those teens have?  Researchers behind the National Study of Youth and Religion asked this very question.  Specifically, they asked “What made it possible for some teens to be part of that 8%?  What empowered those teens to have a faith that mattered?  Researchers found that there were four things that set these teens apart.  In her book Almost Christian researcher Kenda Creasy Dean writes about them.  In this Sunday morning series we’re going to explore these four things.  Kenda Dean will give us the sociology.  Paul and I will give us the theology from 2 Timothy.  These four critical issues can be summarized in four words: creed, calling, community, and confidence.  There is a certain group of teenagers in this country with a faith worth imitating.  How do we become like them?  The researchers say it comes down to these four things: creed, calling, community and confidence.  This morning, we look at creed.

One of the primary things researchers found in these teenagers is summarized by the word “creed.”  By creed, the researchers mean that highly devoted teenagers believed deeply and strongly in the story of God found in Scripture.[9] To these teenagers, Scripture was not something they could take or leave.  Scripture, and what it said about God and life, was fundamental to their identity.  Scripture provided the narrative for their life. These teens found in the Bible a story worth living and dying for.

That simple element is what Paul points Timothy to in 2 Timothy 3 and 4.  In these chapters, Paul describes people we do not want to be like and people we do want to be like.  What made the difference between the two?  Paul says it has everything to do with creed.

Do you remember the first group of people Paul pointed to in chapter 3: those who loved themselves and were arrogant and ungrateful?  Here’s how Paul describes them in chapter 4:

³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Tim. 4:3-4 ESV).  What led these people to become lovers of self and arrogant and ungrateful?  It had to do with their creed.  They were the kind of people for whom Scripture meant nothing.  The phrase “itching ears” literally means “having their ears tickled,” as if what they heard merely scratched their eardrums without penetrating further.^[10] Paul is describing people who were listening to Scripture but it never went any farther than their eardrums.  Eventually, Paul writes, they “turn away from listening to the truth.”  The implication is that by turning away from Scripture, these people transform into the kind of people we do not want to be like.  These people became the horrible people they were because they did not value and embrace the story of God in Scripture.

Paul, by contrast, became worthy of imitation because of his stance toward Scripture:

¹⁰ You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹²Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted… (2 Tim. 3:10-12 ESV).  The first thing Paul mentions about his life is his teaching—meaning his teaching of Scripture.  He puts it first in this list because everything else flowed from it.^[11] He was patient, loving, steadfast and willing to endure suffering because of his commitment to the story of Scripture, a commitment he expressed in his teaching.^[12] Paul became the wonderful person he was because he embraced the story of God in Scripture.

Paul makes this clear later:

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:14-17 ESV).  Paul reminds Timothy that he was brought up on Scripture.  Timothy was raised on the story of the Bible.  Paul urges him to continue to live out what he’s learned from Scripture.  Paul then reminds Timothy that Scripture is “breathed out by God.”  That phrase stresses the divine origin of Scripture.^[13] And because Scripture comes from God, it is profitable: profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.  Scripture, Paul writes, will thoroughly equip Timothy, and any person, for every good work.

All this emphasis on Scripture is tied back to the contrast Paul paints between people like him and people like those at the beginning of our text.  What makes the difference between the two is their attitude toward Scripture.  What makes the difference between the person we’d like to be and the person we’d like not to be is radical commitment to the creed of Scripture.

That’s one of four things which led those 8% of teens to experience a life-changing faith.  They became compassionate, interested in justice, and full of integrity because they embraced the story of God found in Scripture.  They loved Scripture.  They ate and drank Scripture.

And if we want to experience that same kind of life-changing and real faith, it begins with a love of Scripture.  But there are some wrong ways of dealing with Scripture that will not lead to a life-changing faith.  In his book The Blue Parakeet Scot McKnight writes about the ineffective ways that Christians often approach Scripture.[14] Many readers of Scripture, rather than reading the Bible as story, take one of five shortcuts:

• First, some read the Bible as a collection of “morsels of law.”  We are only interested in the rules, commands, and directions for living which are found in Scripture.
• Second, some read the Bible as a collection of “morsels of blessings and promises.”  We only pay attention to the comforting blessings found in the Bible or the inspiring promises spoken in the Bible.
• Third, some read the Bible as “mirrors and inkblots.”  We only see in the Bible what we want to see.  Rather than being swept up into the Bible’s story, we sweep the Bible into our story.  Jesus looks just like us.  Paul’s writings support our political views.  And so on.
• Fourth, some read the Bible as “pieces to map God’s mind.”  The Bible is a big puzzle.  We decide what the puzzle looks like and we fit all the pieces to that image.  When we come upon a piece that doesn’t seem to fit our puzzle pattern, we force the piece in or we throw it away.
• Fifth, some read the Bible through the eyes of their favorite “maestro.”  That is, we tend to only read what Paul said or only read what Jesus said.  And we don’t take in the whole story of the Bible and listen to every author in the Bible.

What’s needed is an appreciation of the whole grand story of the Bible.  What’s needed is an approach to the Bible that treats it as one adventurous and epic tale about God and us.  When we immerse ourselves into that story, that’s when our lives are transformed and we find a faith that matters.

“Walk the Line” is a movie about country music legend Johnny Cash.[15] It begins with his days on an Arkansas cotton farm.  Early in the movie, a young Johnny lies in bed next to his older brother, Jack.  Jack is reading the Bible.  “Jack,” says Johnny. “Why are you so good?”  “I ain’t,” Jack replies.  “You pick five times more [cotton] than me,” says Johnny.  “Well, I’m bigger than you are,” replies Jack. “You know every story in Scripture,” says Johnny.  “Look J.R.,” answers Jack, “if I’m gonna be a preacher one day, I’ve gotta know the Bible from front to back. I mean, you can’t help nobody if you can’t tell ‘em the right story.”  If you want to help others, and yourself, you’ve got to know the right story.  That’s what Paul is saying.  That’s what this research is saying.  If you want to become a good person, if you want to live life at its best, you’ve got to know, internalize, and live out the story of Scripture.

Speaking at a conference in London in 2008, Desmond Tutu made this remark:[16] “There’s nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible. If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible.“  In other words, if you want a better world, if you want better people, if you want a better you, it starts by placing a Bible in your hand.  That’s part of what led 8% of teenagers in this country to become highly devoted.  That’s what made Paul the man he was.  That’s what would transform Timothy into a godly young man.  It begins by being completely sold out to the freeing story found in the Bible.

Ruth Ann Hume recently presented this monologue about the Bible at her congregation:[17]There exists a story that predates your first breath.  A story so vast that it does not even cease with your death.  A story that withstands the greatest of days and the darkest of nights.  A story without parameters, without measure, of breadth or width or height.  A story, a word, the Word, who painted out the diamond flecked heavens, and the luscious earth, with nothing but words.  Who formed the breathing, bleeding, walking, talking, feeling, dreaming human race with nothing but breath.  And he called them to take his story, to take his words, and run fast and strong…And to the next generation pass the baton on.  From Abel to Noah to Moses to Abraham, Joseph, and Isaiah, to David and Samuel and Hosea, to Daniel, Joshua, and Jeremiah, to John the Baptist, Peter, James, to Mary and John, all passing on the baton.  Declaring one story.  All for one.  And one for all.  And the baton is now passed to you.  With pens dripping fresh ink and pages new.  Your voice matters.  Your steps count.  Whether you are 14 or 74.  So write like it’s your very last page.  Run like you’ve never run before.  Because the earth is groaning, the world is plunging into a darkness as black as night.  With recession and terrorism and natural disaster and endless successions of tragedy and plight.  But another way is possible.  One way of life, of hope and peace.  And we run to pass that baton on.  We run to finish that race.  And you may feel like a drop in the ocean of the Billy Grahams, the Mother Teresas, the Moodys, the Spurgeons, the Luther Kings, but to one parched tongue, your drop is an oasis, to one unquenched thirst, your drop is a spring.  That’s the story of God and of us in Scripture.  Learning, loving, and living that story is the key to everything else in life.  Check out the recommendations in the Link today for help in doing just that.

^[2] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (2341). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] Kenda Creasy Dean Almost Christian (Oxford, 2010), Kindle edition: 317.

[4] Dean, 330.

[5] Dean, 371.

[6] Dean, 374.

[7] Dean, 785.

[8] Dean, 398.

[9] Dean, 411, 748.

^[10] Guthrie, D. (1990). Vol. 14: Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (186). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[11] Guthrie, D. (1990). Vol. 14: Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (178–179). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[12] Guthrie, D. (1990). Vol. 14: Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (179). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[13] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (2342). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[14] Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet (Zondervan, 2008).

[15] Walk The Line (20th Century Fox, 2005), directed by James Mangold.

[16] Desmond Tutu, speaking at London’s Jesus House for All Nations Church, in the “Who Is My Neighbor” conference, (9-6-08).

[17] http://www.gpastures.co.uk/browse-media/the-baton.html

Your world, Lord, amazes me. 

When I gaze at all you’ve created, it speaks.  Your masterpiece shouts aloud that you painted it.  Your works prove that you are glorious. 

I witness your sunrise, sunset, and everything in between and stand in awe.

Your word, Lord, amazes me. 

When I read all you’ve written, I am refreshed.  I become wise.  I gain joy.  I find insight. 

I’d rather possess your word than the most lavish luxuries.  I’d rather dine on your word than on the most perfect pastries.

Lord, we constantly crave refreshment and renewal. 

May we find them as we keep company with with righteous people and spend time in your recreating word.

And as we find them, may we spread them to others. 

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Our Belief in God

Author and preacher A. W. Tozer wrote in the early 20^th century: “What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us…Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, ‘What comes into your mind when you think about God?’ we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.”[1] Our spiritual future can be predicted by what we believe about God.  What we think about God sets the course for everything down our spiritual road.

It is critical, therefore, to have a clear understanding of what it is we believe about God.  Most Americans, indeed, believe something about God.  Despite the efforts of what has been called “the new atheism”—a wave of authors devoted to debunking belief in God—the dominant question in our culture is not “Do you believe in God?” but “What kind of God do you believe in?”  The Pew Forum’s massive study of 35,000 Americans finds that 92% of Americans still believe in God.[2] We are a people who believe in God.  But what do we believe about God?  That is perhaps the most critical spiritual question for Americans to answer.  Why? Because what we believe about God sets the course for our entire spiritual future.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

And while might assume there is great diversity when it comes to what Americans believe about God there is actually a surprising uniformity.  From 2002 to 2005 the National Study of Youth and Religion interviewed more than 3,300 American teenagers between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.[3] On the one hand, the study found that teenagers have very little knowledge of biblical teachings.[4] They don’t know much about what the Bible says about God.  On the other hand, the study found that teenagers do have a consistent spiritual belief system.  And it is not a belief system unique to teenagers.  Researchers found that this belief system was given to these teens by the churches they attend and by the religious people in their lives.  Thus, this is not just a belief system prevalent among teens.  It is the belief system most prevalent among churches and Christians in America today.

What many Americans believe today about God is called by the researchers “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” This belief system consists of 5 basic tenets:[5]

1. A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.

2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4. God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.

5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

The National Study of Youth and Religion calls Moralistic Therapeutic Deism Christianity’s “misbegotten step cousin.”  The researchers claim it is “supplanting Christianity as the dominant religion in American churches.”[6] If we want to know what the dominant view of God is in churches today, this is it.  If we could survey Americans on the content of their belief about God, this is what we would find.  When it comes to God, this is the dominant creed of our day.  At least according the National Study of Youth and Religion, what most American teenagers and their Christian churches or Christian adult influences believe about God is summarized by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

But what exactly does this belief system say about God?  The researchers describe American Christians “as restless people who come to church for the same reasons people once went to diners: for someone to serve us who knows our name, for a filling stew that reminds us of home and makes us feel loved, even while it does a number on our spiritual cholesterol.”[7] In other words, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a belief in God which is rooted primarily in our desire to be served, comforted, and filled—even though it’s not very healthy for us.  We believe in a God who has come to serve us, wants to comfort us, and fills us.

At the heart of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is an image of God that might be summarized in two words: “on call” and “counselor.”  In Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, God is my on-call counselor. The words “on call” portray the way in which the God of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism remains in the background until needed.[8] This is a God who watches over us but makes very little demands of us.[9] Like a software program on a computer, he runs in the background until you need him.  Then you can click on him and he begins whatever operation is needed.  When completed, you exit out of the program and he returns to the desktop, awaiting your next click.

The word “counselor” describes what this God primarily does when we summon him.  He is a butler, a therapist, a cosmic lifeguard.  He listens nonjudgmentally to us and then helps us feel better about ourselves.[10] He is, above all, nice.[11] When summoned from the background, he does everything in his power to meet whatever need we have, then he returns to his post.[12]

God is an on-call counselor.  At the heart of the most prominent creed today is this image of God.

In this series we are exploring what I’m calling “The American Creed”—contemporary beliefs about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and life.  Last time we looked at the first tenet of the American Creed: “It doesn’t matter what you believe.”  In contrast to that tenet, we saw how Christians have historically argued the opposite, saying, “We believe.”  “We believe this and it makes all the difference in the world.”  Tonight we take up what the American Creed says about God.  And what it primarily says is this: “God is my on-call counselor.”

The Nicene Creed

Christians, however, have long held to a different view of God.  They’ve summarized that view in many ways.  One of the ways they’ve summarized their theology is by the use of creeds.  At first, creeds were simple ways that people being baptized confessed their beliefs.  Eventually creeds were used by early Christians to distinguish their beliefs from the beliefs of those in the culture around them.  Creeds articulated the defining beliefs of Christians which set them apart from all other groups.

One of the most important historical creeds is the Nicene Creed.  In May 381, the Christian emperor Theodosius called for a gathering in Constantinople. One hundred and fifty bishops attended. They approved a creed that became known as the Nicene—Constantinopolitan Creed. [13] Today it is commonly known as the Nicene Creed:[14]

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.  Through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.  On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.  He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.  We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This creed provides a helpful way for us to think about the beliefs that define the Christian faith, especially as we consider alterative beliefs in our culture.  We are working our way phrase by phrase through the creed.  Tonight we take up the creed’s words about God:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

Let’s briefly explore this phrase, its back ground in Scripture, and what it says about God.

One God

As the earliest Christians sought a way to distinguish their beliefs from the beliefs of the world around them, they used this phrase: “one God.”  “We believe in one God.”  There is little doubt that this phrase in the Nicene Creed is a reflection of one of the earliest creeds—that found in Deut. 6:4–”Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  This was one of the ways the Jews summarized their beliefs.  Above all, the Jews believed this about God: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  The writers of the Nicene Creed point back to this statement with their phrase “We believe in one God.”[15]

And in so doing, the early Christians were saying “We believe in the God of this Old Testament story.”[16] “We believe in the God whose drama is told in the Old Testament.  Our beliefs are defined by what this book says about God, not by what anyone else says about God.”

Specifically, the creed from Deut. 6 and the phrase “one God” in the Nicene Creed pointed to the belief of early Christians that God was “the top God” and “the only God.”[17] When the Jews said they believed “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” and when the Christians said, “We believe in one God,” they were first of all stating that they believed in a God who was superior to all other gods.  They believed in a God who was the top God.  That’s what it meant for God to be one God.

This is reflected in places like the following:

• Ps. 86:8 “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.”
• Ps. 89:6 “For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?”
• Ps. 95:3 “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”

When the early Christians said “We believe in one God” they were saying they believed their God was the top God.

But this belief in a God who was the top God eventually grew into a belief in a God who was the only God.  When the Jews recited their Shema creed, they did so claiming belief in a God who was the only true God.  There was no other God but the LORD God.  In the same way, when Christians recited the Nicene Creed, they said it in the midst of a culture which argued there were many gods.  They claimed that there was one God who was the top God and he was the only true God.

The Father

Not only did the early Christians confess belief in a God who was one—the one and only.  They also believed in a God who was “Father”: “We believe in one God, the Father…”  Gerald Bray writes, “It is this personal character of God that distinguishes Christian belief most obviously from any philosophical equivalent.”[18] This, again, was one of the distinctives of the Christian faith—a deep rooted conviction that God was Father: tender, loving, merciful and very, very personal.

If the phrase “one God” was rooted in the Old Testament, then the phrase “Father” was rooted in the New Testament.[19] The image of God as Father is strongest in the New Testament, and especially in the ministry of Jesus.  The word “Father” is Jesus’ favorite designation for God.  In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that God is “your father in heaven” (5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, 14, 32; 7:11, 21) or simply “your father” (6:4, 6, 8, 15, 18, 26; 10:20, 29).  Jesus tells his followers to pray to “our father who is in heaven” (6:9).[20]

Thus the first two phrases of the creed point to the Old and New Testaments, respectively.  “One God” points to the Shema and the story of God in the Old Testament.  “The Father” points to Jesus’ ministry and the story of God in the New Testament.  In essence, these two phrases were the early Christians’ way of saying, “We believe in the God of this book.  The God whose story is in the Old Testament—that’s the one we believe in.  The God whose story continues in the New Testament—that’s the one we believe in.”

The Almighty

But the creed also confessed a belief in God as “Almighty”: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty…” The phrase “Almighty” is not as much an adjective as it is a title.  The word “Almighty” is used in English Bibles to translate the Hebrew name of God El-Shaddai.[21] Within the Old Testament “shaddai” carries idea of having the power to protect.  For example, in Ps. 91:1 we read “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”  This Almighty is a God who has the power to protect.

In the New Testament, the Greek word “all-powerful” or Almighty occurs 9 times in Revelation with an emphasis on the power of God: ^[22]

• “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8)
• And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” (Rev. 4:8)
• “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.” (Rev. 11:17)
• “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!” (Rev. 15:3)
• “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Rev. 16:7)
• For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (Rev. 16:14)
• Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah!For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” (Rev. 19:6)
• From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. (Rev. 19:15)
• And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (Rev. 21:22)

This reigning and victorious God is the one proclaimed by the early Christians in the Nicene Creed.  Against a culture which told them there were greater powers and greater forces, and in the face of threats and dangers, Christians defiantly believed in a God who was all-mighty and who would reign supreme over all forces and be victorious over all powers.

Maker of Heaven and Earth

The early Christians also confessed that they believed God was the “Maker of Heaven and Earth”: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth…” With this phrase the early Christians recalled Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  This God was the one who made heaven and earth and continued to sustain heaven and earth.  As the one who first made heaven and earth, this God was also remaking and renewing heaven and earth.

For example, God points to his role as maker of heaven and earth as the basis for his role as the one who is renewing the same:[23] 5Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who  walk in it: 6″I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.  8I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. (Is. 42:5-8 ESV)  Because God is the one who created the heavens and spread out the earth he is able through his people to open eyes that are blind, bring prisoners out of the dungeon, and rule on the earth.  As maker of heaven and earth he is also remaking heaven and earth.

The Bible ends with this portrait of God.[24] In Rev. 14:7 we are told to “Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”  Then in Rev. 21:1-5 we read “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more . . . and he who sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”

Luke Timothy Johnson writes, “The Christian confession of God as creator is not a theory about how things came to be, but a perception of how everything is still and is always coming into being.”[25] When they confessed God as the maker of heaven and earth they confessed that they believed in a God who brought things to be and is still and always bringing things into being.

Of All That Is, Seen and Unseen

Finally, the early Christians confessed “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.”  God is the maker of everything.  God didn’t just make the earth and heaven.  He made everything.  There’s nothing that exists which he did not make.[26]

The words also reminded them that there was more to life than was seen.  Christians were those believed in the unseen, the invisible.  And even over those things God reigned and was the source and sustenance.[27]

We Believe in One God v. God is My On-Call Counselor

It’s easy to see that there is a significant difference between the God summarized in the Nicene Creed and the God summarized in Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.  The God of the American Creed is primarily “on call.” He is not involved in a daily way with heaven and earth.  He only appears when needed.  He only comes when called.  In many ways he is a distant God.  He created all things.  But his is not recreating of all things.  He started things.  But he does not sustain all things.

The God of the American Creed is primarily “counselor.”  He exists to meet my needs, resolve my problems, and fix my life.  He’s a nice guy who knows how I “tick” and wants to comfort and assist me.

But the God of Scripture is much more.  He is the top God, the only God, the one and only true God.  He is Father and thus personal.  He is Almighty and thus powerful.  He is the maker and remaker of all that is..

Kenda Dean writes, “Who we are and what we do as religious people are decisively shaped by the kind of God we worship.”[28] If we worship God as the on-call counselor, it shapes us into a certain kind of people.  But if we worship the God who is one, Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen, it turns us into a very different kind of people.  What we believe about God sets the direction of our entire spiritual future.  The early Christians strongly believed in the future created by this phrase in the Nicene Creed.

Kenda Dean finally writes, “I’ve been told that when FBI agents are learning to detect a counterfeit bill, they do not spend most of their time studying counterfeits. Instead, they memorize the original. By internalizing the weight, smell, and look of a real dollar bill, they can spot a fake almost intuitively, without having to stop and analyze it. Christian formation requires a similar familiarity with the God-story of Jesus Christ.”[29] What’s needed is this age of so many counterfeit beliefs about God is more attention to the real and original God.  We need to internalize the weight, smell, and look of the real thing.  In this way we’ll be able to spot a fake almost intuitively.  What’s needed more than ever before is a recapturing of this image of God as one, Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

[2] http://religions.pewforum.org/reports#.

[3] Kenda Creasy Dean Almost Christian (Oxford University Press, 2010), Kindle location 317.

[4] Dean, Kindle location 356.

[5] Dean, Kindle location 270.

[6] Dean, Kindle location 159.

[7] Dean, Kindle location 171.

[8] Dean, Kindle location 398.

[9] Dean, Kindle location 521.

[10] Dean, Kindle location 335.

[11] Dean, Kindle location 521.

[12] Dean, Kindle location 547.

[13] Luke Timothy Johnson, The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters (Image, 2007)  Kindle location 574.

[14] Gerald L. Bray, Editor Ancient Christian Doctrine Volume 1 (IVP, Academic, 2009), unnumbered page.

[15] Johnson, 1062.

[16] Johnson, 1062.

[17] Johson, 1083.

[18] Bray, 34.

[19] Bray, 60.

[20] Johnson, 1162.

[21] Bray, 87-88.

^[22] Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed.) (25). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.

[23] Johnson, 1385.

[24] Johnson, 1395.

[25] Johnson, 1405.

[26] Johnson, 1432.

[27] Johnson, 1475.

[28] Dean, 1212.

[29] Dean, 1544.

            Priscilla Shirer writes about the time she was fresh out of college and had landed a job hosting a live televised show on CBS.[i]  She had never hosted a live show before and was a nervous wreck.  What if she lost her train of thought?  What if she forgot what she was supposed to do next?  Seeing her apprehension, the producer walked over to Shirer and handed her a small device that fit in her ear.  The producer explained that this equipment was known as “the ear” and would allow Shirer to hear the producer at all times.  At any time during the live program, the producer would be able to direct and guide Shirer. 

            Something similar can happen every day between you and God.  It is possible to hear “live” from God.  Scripture can be like that small electronic device.  Through it God can whisper guidance, direction, encouragement, and inspiration. 

            How does this happen?  One way to increase our likelihood of hearing from God through Scripture is to practice Lectio Divina.  There are four steps.[ii]

• Lectio (lexeeo) literally means reading.  It’s the word from which terms like lection and lectionary are derived.  It refers to a reflective and gentle-paced type of reading.  Here, we’re asking: What is God saying to me right now?  It is analogous to a cow walking over to some grass and beginning to eat. 
• Meditatio (meditatseo) translates as meditation.  This is not the kind of meditation known in Far Eastern religious traditions where meditation involves moving beyond images and emptying the mind.  Instead, this meditation involves active reflection upon the text.  In the practice of the early church this step involved the repetition of the “word” received from lectio.  It is analogous to a cow chewing its cud.
• Oratio (oratsio) is related to terms like oration and oratory.  It describes the prayer that results from our meditation.  Here we respond to what we’ve heard from God.  It is us responding to God based on what we’ve heard.
• Contemplatio (contemplatsio) means contemplation.  This refers to resting in God’s presence and just being with God.

            Richard Foster writes, “Whereas the study of Scripture centers on exegesis, the meditation of Scripture centers in internalizing and personalizing the passage.  The written Word becomes a living word addressed to you.”[iii]  Through these four steps God’s word becomes living and active.

            On most week-day mornings, I practice lectio divina on the texts I’m preaching from.  A few weeks ago I was meditating on Lk. 3:1-14, the text I preached from last Sunday.  What caught my attention that morning was that the word of God, absent for over 460 years, came to a man named John.  It didn’t come to Tiberius Ceasar or Pontius Pilate.  It didn’t even come to the religious professionals: Annas and Caiaphas.  It came to a relative nobody named John.  I started wondering why.  Why did this word of God come to John and not to the others?  Were the religious professionals not able to receive this word?  And then I started wondering about myself—because I am a religious professional.  I wondered what I could do to make sure I was more like John—someone who heard from God, and less like Annas and Caiaphas—men who got their paycheck from religion but don’t get a word from God.  And I guess I heard God challenging me that morning.  I heard something like this: “Chris, make sure you keep your heart and mind in a place where my word can find you.  Don’t assume that just because you are a religious professional, you’ll hear my word.”  Through lectio divina I listened to God speak to me.  The same can happen for you.

            Take ten minutes today and practice lectio divina on a text in the Bible.

[ii] Marjorie Thompson, Soul Feast (Westminster John Knox, 1985), 22-25.

[iii] Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline  Revised and Expanded (Harper & Row, 1978), 29.

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            In her book When the Soul Listens, Jan Johnson lists 24 texts in which the Bible praises people for listening to God and condemns them for not listening to God.[1] At least 24 times we are invited to have eyes to see and ears to hear what God is doing and saying.  For example, God scolds Israel in Is. 42:20 “He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.”   Jesus repeatedly invited “If anyone has ears, let him hear.”  The Bible is filled with this invitation to have ears to hear God and eyes to see God.  But how does that work?  How do we hear God?  How do we listen to what God is saying?  How do we see what God is doing? 

            One way to listen to God is through Scripture.  Just because a person knows the words written by God doesn’t mean he is listening to God.  The Pharisees demonstrate that it is possible to be biblically astute, yet spiritually deaf.  However, it is possible for Scripture to be a conduit through which we hear a fresh and living voice from God today.  The Bible is not merely the record of what God has said in the past.  It is also the report of what God is saying in the present. 

            When most of us open our Bible, we are asking the question “What did God say?”  We assume that these pages are filled with the words God said thousands of years ago.  But it is also possible to open the Bible and ask the question “What is God saying?”  We can hear a fresh word from God each day through Scripture.

            For more than 1,500 years, Christians have utilized a particular way of reading Scripture that allows them to hear God in the present.  The practice is called lectio divina. 

            This approach to Scripture goes all the way back to a man named Benedict.[2]  In the 6^th century, Benedict, disgusted with the sin he saw in the city of Rome, retreated to a village.  And there he organized some spiritual communities which were built around three practices: prayer, work, and lectio divina.  The purpose of lectio divina was to enable people to hear God’s word speaking to them in their current context.

            Lectio Divina takes place in four stages: Read, Reflect, Respond, and Rest. 

Read

            First, you select a text and you read it.  Choose a text that is not too long.  Get into a comfortable position and maintain silence for several minutes.  This prepares your heart to listen.  Then read the text slowly.  Savor each word.  Read the text two or three times.  You might read it out loud.  The goal is to hear a word or phrase that speaks to you, or that catches your attention.  As you slowly read, be sensitive for a word or a phrase that catches your attention.  Once you have that word or phrase, move to next step.

Reflect

            The second step involves reflection.  Slowly repeat the word or phrase that has caught your attention.  Meditate on it.  If you keep a journal, write the word or phrase there.  And ask, “Why did this word or phrase catch my attention?” and “What is it about my life that needs to hear this word today?”  You could journal your answers to those questions or just think about them.  The goal is to identify why God has placed this word or phrase on your heart and what God may be asking you to do or be through it.

Respond

            The third step is to respond through prayer.  God has spoken to you through his word.  Now it’s time for you to speak to him.  If through that word or phrase God has convicted you of sin, respond with prayerful repentance.  If through that word or phrase God has given you a new understanding about something, respond with prayerful gratitude.

Rest

            Finally, rest.  Just as you began with a few moments of silence, so now finish with a few moments of silence.  Just rest in the grace of God.

            Take ten minutes this morning to practice lectio divina on a text of Scripture.

[2] Tony Jones The Sacred Way, (Zondervan, 2005), 48.

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            Eva Hermann spent two years in a Nazi prison camp.[1]  While there she learned prayer from a young cell mate.  One of the practices that transformed her experience was praying Scripture.  She wrote, “During many a walk in the courtyard I have permitted myself to be carried along by such a stream, by repeating again and again the words of a Psalm: for example Psalm No. 90, ‘O God, Thou art our refuge and our strength.’”  She confessed that she met God in that prison camp in a way she had never met him anywhere else.  Praying Scripture transformed her experience.

            Today is the second of three days during which we are exploring the practice of praying Scripture as a means to increased intimacy with God.  Our relationship to God is one of three core areas which Jesus identifies in the Sermon on the Mount as central to life.  Praying Scripture can help us experience God in a way few other things can.

            Praying Scripture roots us in prayers that have fed and blessed God’s people for centuries.  Adele Calhoun writes, “Alongside the popularity of conversational prayer, with its up-to-the-minute spontaneity, stands the desire to be rooted in something ancient that has survived the centuries.”[2]  Praying Scripture roots us in ancient words which have served God’s people for centuries.

            Yesterday we prayed a Psalm.  There are, however, many additional prayers to pray from Scripture.  Today we survey words from Jesus which are useful for prayer.  For example, we can pray through the actual prayers Jesus prayed.  We can pray through a teaching from Jesus like the Sermon on the Mount.  Finally, we can pray the iconic prayer given to us by Jesus known as the Lord’s Prayer.

            Take ten minutes today to read over the three categories of Jesus-inspired prayer below.  Choose one category.  The pray through it.

Praying the Prayers of Jesus

            Of the approximately thirty references in the Gospels to the prayer-life and prayer-words of Jesus, approximately nineteen of these are general in nature.  They simply tell us that Jesus prayed.  They do not describe in detail what Jesus prayed.  Yet there are at least ten occasions on which the Gospel authors record the actual words Jesus spoke in prayer.  Without a doubt these must be the most important prayers in Scripture.  You can refresh your prayer life by praying one or more of these prayers each day:

1.       21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21 ESV) (Matt. 11:25-26)

2.      And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” (John 11:41-43 ESV).

3.      23And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27″Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” (John 12:23-29 ESV).

4.      1When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.  6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sake  I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:1-26 ESV).

5.      36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (Matt. 26:36-46 ESV) (Luke 22:39-46; Mk. 14:32-42)

6.      32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:32-34 ESV).

7.      33And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with  sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mk. 15:33-37 ESV) (Matt. 27:45-50)

8.      28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now  finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. (Jn. 19:28-29 ESV).

9.      44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46 ESV).

10.  30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn. 19:30 ESV).

Praying the Sermon on the Mount

            The Sermon on the Mount contains some of the most powerful and challenging teaching ever to come from the lips of Jesus.  It is the ultimate picture of what life could look like if God’s kingdom came on earth as in heaven.  Below, I’ve taken the major thoughts of the Sermon on the Mount and turned them into prayers.  One way to refresh your prayer life is to pray part or all of these prayers each day:

Enable me to show favor to the poor in spirit who have no one but you in their corner, the mournful so weary of the  wrong in the world, the meek and the missing out, and those who are hungering and thirsting for the world to be made right.

Empower me to show mercy, to practice a faith that is not merely external and superficial, to pursue your peace for all people, and to be willing to pay the price to do what’s right by others and by you.

Energize me that I might do the good deeds that act as salt and light.

In my relationship with others make me the one who does not harbor anger but seeks reconciliation, pays any price to think and act without lust, does not divorce but is faithful, does not deceive but lets my ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and does not respond to evil with violence but with love.

In my relationship with you assist me that I might give to the poor, pray, and fast for your sake and not mine; and that I might pray for your kingdom to come instead of for my will to be done.

In my relationship with money help me to not be miserly and serve Money but to be generous and serve you; help me not worry but trust in your caring provision and kingdom purpose.

May I pursue the strengthening of my own weaknesses rather than pointing out the weaknesses of others.

May I trust in a God who knows how to give good gifts.

May I do to others what I would have them do to me.

Let my path not be the crowded one but the little-traveled one.

Let me not listen to others because of the fruit on their resumes but because of the fruit in their character.

Let me not aspire to the claim of sensational spirituality but to the claim of simple obedience.

Transform me so that I do not merely listen to these words but do live them out.

Praying the Lord’s Prayer

            The Lord’s Prayer is the supreme example from Jesus regarding what and how to pray.  New life can pour into our prayers as we pray this prayer daily or at least weekly:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name. 

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

(Matt. 6:9-13 ESV)                  

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Introduction

            In his vision for life, Jesus speaks a great deal about prayer.  He instructs us in the wrong way: “And when you pray, you must not…And when you pray, do not… (Matt. 6:5,7).  And Jesus instructs us in the right way: “But when you pray…Pray then like this… (Matt. 6:6,9).  It is clear that, for Jesus, prayer is one of the central practices for growing in piety.

            Mark Thibodeaux suggests there are four kinds of prayer.[1]  He illustrates each kind through a story about himself and his Aunt Sally.

• First, there is “Talking at God.”  When Thibodeaux was four years old, his Aunt Sally came to visit.  Tongue tied, Thibodeaux didn’t know what to say to her.  His mother said, “Say ‘Hello Aunt Sally.’”; “Tell Aunt Sally how old you are.”; “Say, ‘I’m four years old.’”  Thibodeaux’s mother gave him the words to say.  Some prayer is like this.  We invite someone else to give us the words we need to speak to God.  We use someone else’s prayer for our own prayer.  This is similar to our use of pre-written wedding vows or popular love songs—we use someone else’s words to say what we want to say but aren’t sure how to say.  Thibodeaux calls these “ready-made prayers.”   
• Second, there is “Talking to God.”  When Thibodeaux was elementary aged, his Aunt Sally came for another visit.  Thibodeaux told her all about a picture he had just finished drawing.  This time, he didn’t need prompting from Mom.  He just spontaneously spoke whatever came to mind.  Some prayer is like this.  It is spontaneous.  We tell God whatever comes to mind.  This is the most common kind of prayer.
• Third, there is “Listening to God.”  When Thibodeaux was thirteen years old, Aunt Sally moved in with his family.  She was too old to continue living by herself.  On many occasions Thibodeaux would just listen as Aunt Sally told him stories about her life.  Some prayer is like this.  We sit in solitude and strive to listen as God speaks. 
• Finally, there is “Being with God.”  When Thibodeaux was in college, Aunty Sally was old and frail.  He spent long periods with her in silence, neither one speaking, but both enjoying just being with one another.  Some prayer is like this.  The focus is not on speaking or listening but on simply being with God and resting in his presence.

            Thibodeaux believes many of us only experience only one of these four kinds of prayer: “Talking to God.”  To grow in prayer he urges us to experience the other kinds of prayer.  Prayer as “Being with God” and as “Listening to God” require learning some additional prayer-skills.  But prayer as “Talking at God” is something many of us can do immediately without learning any additional prayer-skills.  Through the use of ready-made prayers we can allow the words of others to help us grow in prayer.

            One particular form of ready-made prayers is praying Scripture.  Adele Calhoun writes that “In the early centuries of the church, believers were taught to pray the Scriptures.  Since the Bible is divinely inspired, they believed that praying Scripture deeply connected them to the mind and heart of God.  Furthermore, as Scripture was repeatedly prayed, it became memorized.  This was a wonderful benefit for those who were illiterate.  It also meant that memorized Scripture could lead them to pray at any hour of the day or night.”[2]

            Praying Scripture, however, is not as common in the contemporary church as it was in the ancient church.  Yet it remains a powerful way of praying.  It can lead us to pray in ways we’ve never before prayed.  This experience may be just what we need to bring freshness and newness back into our spiritual lives.

            During the next three days, we’ll explore six parts of Scripture we might consider utilizing in our prayers.

Praying the Psalms

            The Psalms are the original ready-made prayers.  They are prayers and songs written by others and used in prayer and worship by the people of God around the world.  The Psalms fall into three kinds: Orientation, Disorientation and Reorientation. [3]  

            In psalms of orientation God is viewed as trustworthy and reliable.  Life is happy and the one praying is grateful for the stability and predictability of life.  These psalms provide opportunities to pray about some of the most basic things of life which are responsible for the pleasantness of life.  Examples include Ps. 19, 104, and 119.

            Like psalms of orientation, psalms of reorientation are also prayers of praise and thanksgiving.  But rather than focus on the basic stability and dependability of the life which God has created, reorientation prayers rejoice for some recent way in which God has delivered the author from despair or danger.  They offer praise at its highest and loudest.  Examples include Ps. 16, 23, 100, and 150.

            But psalms of disorientation stand in stark contrast to the other two.  These are prayers gasped and groaned when life is at its worst.  In them, God does not seem dependable or desirable.  Those who are praying lament their situation in life and beg God for a change in their circumstances.  These are the most disturbing prayers in the Old Testament.  They include Ps. 13, 51, and 69.

            I’ve found it helpful to reclassify these Old Testament prayers as prayers of the plain (orientation), prayers of the peak (reorientation), and prayers of the pit (disorientation).

• Prayers of the plain are those psalms in which life is ordinary and routine and we thank God for the basic things of life that make life so good. 
• Prayers of the peak are those psalms in which life is unusually good and we thank God for a specific way in which he has been active in our lives.  
• But prayers of the pit are those psalms in which life is hard and horrible and we give voice to our harshest feelings.  They are the prayers which are colored primarily by challenge and suffering in life.

            Each kind of Psalm stretches us to go beyond what we normally experience in prayer.

1. They stretch us to pray about issues we may generally overlook, as in Orientation Psalms/Plain Psalms which prompt us to pray thankfully for the creation and for the Scriptures—things we tend to take for granted.
2. They stretch us to grieve in ways we may have never done before in prayer, as in Disorientation Psalms/Pit Psalms which lead us to lament in bold ways.
3. They stretch us to praise in ways we may have never done before in prayer, as in Reorientation Psalms/Peak Psalms which lead us to use language of praise and rejoicing that we may not be used to in our prayers.

            One way to refresh your prayer life is to pray at least one Psalm each day.  You can pray many of them verbatim.  Others will require some word changes.  I’ve rewritten all 150 Psalms in my own words in a series of prayers on this website.  You might find those helpful to pray through as well.  Below is a list of the Psalms, their general characterization (O = Orientation; D = Disorientation; R = Reorientation), and their specific focus.  Use this to guide you as you pray at least one Psalm each day.

            Take ten minutes (actually, it will take less than ten minutes) to pray through one Psalm today.  Consider praying through Psalm 95:1-7a, changing “Let us” to “I will” and addressing God directly (e.g., “I will sing to your LORD; I will make a joyful noise to you, the rock of our salvation…” ).

1          O         Word  

2          D          Complaint–I (Royal)

3          D          Imprecatory

4          D          Complaint-I

5          D          Imprecatory

6          D          Confession

7          D          Imprecatory    

8          O         Creation

9          D          Complaint-I

10        D          Imprecatory

11        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

12        D          Imprecatory

13        D          Complaint-I

14        O         Wisdom

15        O         Word

16        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

17        D          Imprecatory

18        R          Thanksgiving-I

19        O         Word

20        R          Praise-Royal

21        R          Praise-Royal

22        D          Complaint-I

23        R          Thanksgiving-I

24        O         Word

25        D          Complaint-I

26        D          Complaint-I

27        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

28        D          Imprecatory

29        R          Praise-Royal

30        R          Thanksgiving-I

31        D          Complaint-I

32        D          Confess

33        O         Creation

34        R          Thanksgiving-I

35        D          Imprecatory

36        D          Complaint-I

37        O         Wisdom

38        D          Confess

39        D          Complaint-I

40        D          Complaint-I

41        D          Complaint-I

42        D          Complaint-I

43        D          Complaint-I

44        D          Complaint-We

45        R          Praise-Royal

46        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-We

47        R          Praise-Royal   

48        R          Zion

49        O         Wisdom

50        D          Complaint-I (God)

51        D          Confess

52        D          Complaint-I

53        D          Complaint-I

54        D          Imprecatory

55        D          Imprecatory

56        D          Complaint-I    

57        D          Complaint-I    

58        D          Imprecatory    

59        D          Imprecatory    

60        D          Complaint-We

61        D          Complaint-I    

62        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

63        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I    

64        D          Complaint-I    

65        R          Thanksgiving-We       

66        R          Thanksgiving-We       

67        R          Thanksgiving-We       

68        R          Praise-Hymn   

69        D          Imprecatory    

70        D          Complaint-I    

71        D          Complaint-I    

72        R          Praise-Royal   

73        D          Complaint-I    

74        D          Imprecatory    

75        R          Thanksgiving-We       

76        R          Zion    

77        D          Complaint-I    

78        O         History

79        D          Imprecatory

80        D          Complaint-We

81        D          Complaint-I (God)      

82        D          Imprecatory    

83        D          Imprecatory    

84        R          Zion    

85        D          Complaint-We

86        D          Complaint-I    

87        R          Zion    

88        D          Complaint-I    

89        D          Complaint-I (Royal)    

90        D          Complaint-We

91        R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I    

92        R          Thanksgiving-I

93        R          Praise-Royal   

94        D          Imprecatory

95        R          Praise-Royal

96        R          Praise-Royal

97        R          Praise-Royal

98        R          Praise-Royal

99        R          Praise-Royal

100      R          Praise-Hymn

101      R          Praise-Royal

102      D          Confess          

103      R          Praise-Hymn

104      O         Creation         

150      R          Praise-Hymn

105      O         History

106      O         History

107      R          Thanksgiving-We                               

108      D          Complaint-We

109      D          Imprecatory    

110      R          Praise-Royal   

111      R          Praise-Hymn

112      O         Wisdom          

113      R          Praise-Hymn

114      R          Praise-Royal   

115      R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-We            

116      R          Thanksgiving-I

117      R          Praise-Hymn

118      R          Thanksgiving-I

119      O         Word              

120      D          Complaint-I    

121      R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-I

122      R          Zion                

123      D          Complaint-We

124      R          Thanksgiving-We                               

125      R          Thanksgiving-Confidence-We

126      D          Complaint-We

127      O         Wisdom          

128      O         Wisdom          

129      D          Imprecatory    

130      D          Confess          

131      R          Thanksgiving-I

132      R          Praise-Royal   

133      O         Wisdom

134      R          Praise-Hymn

135      O         History

136      O         History

137      D          Imprecatory    

138      R          Thanksgiving-I

139      D          Complaint-I

140      D          Imprecatory

141      D          Complaint-I    

142      D          Complaint-I    

143      D          Confess          

144      R          Praise-Royal

145      O         Creation         

146      R          Praise-Hymn

147      R          Praise-Hymn

148      R          Praise-Hymn

149      R          Praise-Hymn

150      R          Praise-Hymn

[2] Adele Calhoun Spiritual Disciplines Handbook (IVP Books, 2005), 246.

[3] Walter Brueggemann The Message of the Psalms (Augsburg, 1984); Spirituality of the Psalms (Fortress, 2002).

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